If you're wondering how to clean quartz countertops, the short answer is warm water, a little mild dish soap, and a soft cloth. Quartz is nonporous and never needs sealing, so it's genuinely one of the lower-maintenance materials we install. But "low maintenance" isn't "anything goes," and a few common household products can dull or discolor the surface over months of repeated use. Here's how we tell customers to care for quartz, and what to steer clear of.
Daily cleaning
For most day-to-day messes, warm water, a few drops of mild dish soap, and a soft cloth or non-scratch sponge handle it. Wipe in the direction that feels natural, rinse with a clean damp cloth, and dry with a towel to avoid water spots. You don't need a specialty stone cleaner for routine cleaning, though a cleaner labeled safe for quartz or engineered stone works fine if you prefer one.
Skip anything abrasive for everyday use. Scouring pads, powdered cleansers, and steel wool can leave fine scratches that dull the surface's shine over time, even though quartz is harder than most kitchen tools you'd use on it.
Handling spills before they set
Quartz resists stains far better than natural stone, but nonporous doesn't mean immune. Coffee, red wine, cooking oil, dark sauces, and turmeric can all leave a mark if left sitting for hours instead of wiped up. The resin can react with strong dyes and pigments given enough time, so blot spills up promptly rather than letting them dry.
If something does set in before you catch it, our post on removing stains from quartz countertops walks through what actually works for coffee, wine, oil, hard water spots, and dye-based stains.
The trivet rule
This one's non-negotiable: never set a hot pan, pot, or baking sheet directly on quartz. The resin binder is heat-sensitive, and a hot pan can scorch it and leave a permanent yellow mark that no amount of cleaning or polishing will fix. Keep a trivet or hot pad within reach of the stove, always. If you want the full explanation of why quartz reacts this way to heat, we cover it in our post on quartz heat resistance.
Do this, not that
| Situation | Do | Don't |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday cleaning | Warm water, mild dish soap, soft cloth | Abrasive pads, scouring powder |
| Fresh spills | Wipe up promptly, especially coffee, wine, oil, dark sauces, turmeric | Let liquids sit for hours assuming they can't stain |
| Hot cookware | Always use a trivet or hot pad | Set pans, pots, or baking sheets directly on the surface |
| Disinfecting | Use a cleaner labeled safe for quartz or engineered stone | Reach for straight bleach or ammonia-based cleaners regularly |
| Stubborn buildup | Treat it as a spot issue with a quartz-safe product | Scrub repeatedly with an abrasive pad or powder |
| Cutting food | Use a cutting board | Cut directly on the countertop with a knife |
What to avoid entirely
A few products show up in almost every kitchen and cause more harm than people expect on quartz:
- Bleach and ammonia-based cleaners, used repeatedly, can discolor or dull the resin over time. Occasional diluted use isn't a crisis, but they shouldn't be your go-to.
- Abrasive pads and powders, including scouring powders and steel wool, can leave fine scratches that build into a visibly duller surface.
- Harsh solvents, like paint remover, oven cleaner, or drain cleaner, can discolor or damage the resin on contact and have no place near quartz.
None of this makes quartz high-maintenance. It just means the cleaning routine that works on tile or laminate isn't automatically safe here, since the surface is part stone and part polymer.
Quartz is one of the easiest materials to live with day to day precisely because it doesn't need sealing or special polish. The habits that matter most: wipe spills promptly, keep a trivet by the stove, and stick with mild soap and water for routine cleaning. If you're comparing materials for a kitchen project, our quartz countertops page covers what to expect from the material, including how it holds up against other stone options.
FAQ
How do you clean quartz countertops without damaging them? Stick to warm water, a few drops of mild dish soap, and a soft cloth or non-scratch sponge for routine cleaning. Rinse and dry the surface afterward to avoid water spots, and save anything abrasive or heavily acidic for occasional spot treatment rather than everyday use.
How do you care for quartz countertops long term? Quartz never needs sealing or reconditioning, so the main things that protect it over years of use are consistent habits: wipe up spills before they sit for hours, always use a trivet with hot cookware, and avoid bleach, ammonia, and abrasive cleaners as your regular go-to products.
Can you use vinegar to clean quartz countertops? A diluted vinegar and water solution is commonly used for occasional spots like hard water marks, but it shouldn't be your everyday cleaner. Vinegar is acidic, and repeated or prolonged contact can affect the resin over time, so rinse it off promptly rather than letting it sit.
Is quartz really low maintenance compared to granite? In most ways, yes. Quartz doesn't need periodic sealing the way natural stone does, and it resists stains better because it's nonporous. The tradeoff is that it's more sensitive to direct heat than granite, so the trivet rule matters more with quartz than it does with stone.